Episode 27: Imperial caliphate

Having exhausted the many rebellions against his unpopular governor, we can finally turn our attention to assessing Abdulmalik’s leadership and the results of his many deeply influential policy changes. He’s remembered overwhelmingly positively in our sources despite these many upheavals, and we’ll try and get into why that was before touching upon the ever-sensitive matter of succession.

Glossary

• Mohammad ibn Marwan: the caliph’s brother was a capable commander. Much was accomplished under his leadership, especially in Armenia and Mesopotamia. He ruled over these lands from the Armenian city of Dvin, known to the Arabs as Dabil. 
• Abdulaziz ibn Marwan: the caliph’s brother, designated successor, and longtime governor of Egypt. Abdulaziz gets a great reputation in our sources, and is praised for his piety and devotion to the wellbeing of the men under his charge. I did underplay the tension between Abdulaziz and the caliph, but Abdulmalik never allowed it to flare out of control by trying to force his brother to relinquish his place in line.
• Al Hajjaj: after vanquishing ibn il Ash’ath’s massive horde and founding Wasit al Hajjaj had a much easier time keeping Iraq under control. Following his victories, disaffected Arabs either joined the kharijites or left his domain entirely, especially for Medina.
• Yazid ibn Muhallab: the son of Muhallab did an ok job as governor of Khurasan, but he managed to get on al Hajjaj’s bad side somehow. I think the most likely explanation is some clash of personalities, with both feeling like they were entitled to control of their respective domains. It’s not spelled out explicitly in the sources, although you can find some gossipy narrations on the topic in our sources.Their souring relationship will play a big role in the not-too-distant future.